Global Warming & Scottish Football

[CaleyD]

I had a bit of a Eureka moment earlier today.

We witnessed what has been one of the very few nice days so far this year - and it was with much delight that I saw groups of kids out away from their computers after school and in the field kicking a ball around - just like when I was a lad.....lol.

I was also reading an article about Global Warming, and why we are experiencing so much crap weather when the world is suppose to be getting hotter. The article explained that some places (including Scotland) have been witnessing worse weather - i won't bore you with the scientific reasons given - whilst other places, notably those closer to the equator are experiencing better/hotter weather.

We all know that in order to improve the Scottish Game of Football we need to be encouraging the youngsters to be out more often kicking a ball, but as most kids are wrapped up in cotton wool and are Soft Wee Jessie's these days they won't go out unless it's sunny. Therefore the decline in the weather has resulted in the decline in the number of kids out kicking a ball around and this over the years has fed up through the system eating away at the overall level of the game.

Is it any wonder we struggle to qualify for the World Cup when the planet we live on and it's entire population is conspiring against us? I think we should therefore petition UEFA to make an allowance for Global Warming when it comes to International Competitions and World Rankings.

[Yompa]

For a minute there, General, I thought you were going to tell us that the rising sea levels meant TCS would be under six feet of water by the end of the year....

[Scotty]

Sea levels may be rising, but so are land levels in the northern UK due to a process called "post-glacial rebound. Its the aftermath of the the isostatic depression that occured during the last ice-age when lots of northern Europe was covered in glaciers. Conversely, Southern England is slowly sinking into the sea and the Thames Barrier will eventually be about as effective as a chocolate fireguard

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-glacial_rebound

cue another educational thread :015:

[CaleyJulz]

I need to come here more often i could learn lots and lots .

[Alex MacLeod]

Is there really global warming or are we still in a receding ice age?

Is the hole in the ozone layer a new thing or has it always been there but we've only recently developed the technology to find it?

We are told that pollutants in the atmosphere like carbon dioxide are preventing the heat on the earth escaping. Could it be that all that is bull and that the hole is actually a chimney that funnels the heat away and its part of the design structure of this planet.

Technology improvements aid scientists in finding out more and more all the time. That doesnt mean its all new nor even that what they say is true. What they dont understand they invent. To put that in context, if I walk down the road and find a pound coin, it does not mean that that coins appearance is a new thing. It could have been there for years but everyone else ignored it. The hole and the carbon dioxide covering may have been there since the world was born but previous scientists chose to ignore it.

[CaleyD]

Very good point Alex - however, we have got to a stage where we have been messing with nature for so long that we cannot afford to risk "letting nature take it's course".

Regardless of what we know and what we are still to learn - one thing is certain - Whatever the planet/nature is doing it is doing it to correct something as it continues it's constant search for the "perfect state". For all we know that "perfect state" may have no place for us and our technology, but being what we (humans) are, we are seeking our own "perfect state" and that is causing a battle between us and the planet we currently inhabit.

The most ironic thing is, their is a good chance this is a lose/lose situation for us. In the effort to create our own "perfect state" we may well end up killing the planet which would then be unable to support us. And if we do nothing, the planet will constantly change and very likely reach a state (or go through a phase) where it is unable to support us.

Unlike most other living things on this planet who adapt to suit the environment in which they find themselves, we as a species are trying to adapt and control the environment to support us. It is this one fact which is most likely to herald to our ultimate and early demise as nature is all about survival of the fittest and, IMO, we have stopped evolving as a species and instead rely upon the evolution of technology, a technology driven by the energy from and received by the planet on which we live and which we are, in all probability, killing.

[Phill]

Global warming exists, we know this because the Earth is getting warmer. Global warming and Global Cooling occur naturally. The question is - what impact is mankind having on global temperature?

"If I walk down a busy high street and find a fifty pound note, it does not mean that the appearance of the note is a new thing. It could have been there for weeks but everyone else ignored it." How likely is it that many people chose to ignore the hole in the ozone layer/global warming? Has the increase in change of temperature coincided with human industry, or does the rate of change of temperature vary to the extent currently experienced? Given the evidence available to us it appears that man has made a significant impact on the environment.

Since the industrial revolution mankind has pumped obscene amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere AND cut down large amounts of plant life. I think anyone would be hard pressed to proove that this had no effect on the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

With regards to Global Warming it is the rate of change of temperature that is important, along with the peak temperature of the atmosphere (or we'll end up like venus*). It may take the earth 500 years for the temperature to rise X degrees, or with mankinds effect on the atmosphere it may take only 50 years. Is it better to have 500 years to prepare for that temperature rise, and the effects associated with it, or 50 years?

The ozone layer, and the "hole" in it are often misunderstood. The ozone layer has only a small effect on global warming and cooling. It is a different problem. We released of large quantities of manmade organohalogen compounds into the atmosphere. This is bad for the ozone layer, as the compounds react first with the UV-rays from the sun, and then with the O3 in the ozone layer. Now the right amount of ozone is imperative to life on this planet. We, like all oother species on this planet, evolved with a certain amount of UV radiation from the sun. We like that amount of radiation, not more, not less. UV radiation damages DNA, the more UV radiation that gets through the higher the likelyhood of damage from it(e.g. skin cancer). With a thinner ozone layer more radiation gets through. This is bad. One of the often missed problems with global warming will increase ozone depletion, and that's likely to be as bad for us as the obvious effects of global warming.

Sorry that was so long. On another topic which may be of interest - *current knowledge of global warming and climate modelling have been applied to the planet venus, which may have suffered a thermal runaway a while ago, causing it to be a bloody awful place.

[Johnboy]

God.... I'll be so glad when the footie season starts up again.....

[Caley Fish]

Blooming heck I thought I'd get to stop learning when I left school.

[Yompa]

I think Scotland is rising as a direct result of so many fecking houses being built in the south east of England. In fact, on this basis, I would expect Ben Nevis to rival Mount Everest before County reach the dizzy heights of the SPL.... :017:

[Alex MacLeod]

Different groups of scientists will have us believe different things.

Another of my points for thought. The industrial revolution and large scale, commercial meat farming began around the same time. We are told that industrial pollutants are responsible for the problems that now face us. We are also told that methane releases into the atmosphere are part of the problem. And the biggest producers of uncontrolled methane??????? Cattle!

[Mee]

I love a bit of isostacy!

Fort William is rising faster than Inverness though, wouldn't count on that saving us on the east coast so much (she writes safely from her house 170m above sea level)

My pal phoned SEPA as she has a house by the river within the tidal zone, and is planning on going travelling for a few years. She wanted to know whether she should rent out her house or sell it, ahead of any sea level rise - SEPA would only commit to five years of freedom from flooding, so she's decided to sell. Make of that what you will but Im glad I'm already in the hills!